May 24, 2023
Day 2 - Monmoiron to Sault
Through the Gorges de la Nesque, and a CycleBlaze meetup!
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We had our usual quick breakfast in the room and headed out onto the road at around 930, with a cheery sendoff from Pascal. We set off across rolling countryside for the village of Villes-sur-Auzon.
The route was a mix of good road, crummy road, and gravel/dirt, and Schnooks handled it all with good grace. We even survived a dog chase - almost unheard of in France! But stupid farmers exist in every country, I guess…
Villes-sur-Auzon was having its weekly market, but after only 10k down the road we didn’t feel like stopping. We headed out of town and followed the signpost to the road to the Gorges de la Nesque.
The road rose up out of town, following a ridge to the east and south. The gradients were reasonable, the sun was shining, and the air was cool. A great morning to be on the bike!
The road was almost completely devoid of cars, but there were tons of cyclists out! All of them were day riders, running the gamut from serious types on high-end road bikes to older folks on e-bikes. We must have been passed by 50 or 60 riders as we worked our way up to the start of the gorge.
The gorge was a beautiful place for a morning’s ride. The gradient stayed under 4.5% and the views were spectacular. We stopped a few times to gawk, snack, and rehydrate.
All too soon, a rider coming the other way said “you’re almost there”, a photographer appeared along the side of the road, and we topped out at the lookout point that marks the end of the gorge. We stopped and took some pictures.
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1 year ago
We coasted down to Monieux, and since we were going to be way too early for our hotel, we stopped at “Restaurant Les Lavandes” for a drink and snack in their beautiful tree-covered garden.
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Also, although I didn't post a comment earlier, Schnooks really IS a beautiful machine.
1 year ago
Back on the bike, we made quick work of the remaining 10k. The skies started to look threatening but we didn’t get wet. We arrived at our hotel “Le Nesk” at 1400 and our room was ready!
We stowed Schnooks in their well-appointed bike garage, got cleaned up, and rested in anticipation of our CycleBlaze meetup: Steve and Ann Maher-Weary are in town!
We met Steve and Ann for drinks and continued on to a lovely dinner at “Le Provençal”. It was so great to meet them! We chatted our way through dinner, discussing a wide range of common interests. In fact, we were so busy talking that we forgot to take pictures! Ah well, we’ll get pictures next time!
Right now it’s time to rest up for another day of riding!
Today's ride: 38 km (24 miles)
Total: 53 km (33 miles)
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1 year ago